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It's Lucent to the Rescue at the FBI |
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| Topic: Current Events |
1:30 am EDT, Jun 24, 2002 |
FBI director Robert Mueller: "It's important not to go too far too fast." ... The director said the FBI's new Trilogy computer system will take several years to install ... He has hired computer experts from Lucent Technologies and elsewhere to upgrade the FBI's relatively primitive computer systems ... JLM:
Lucent is now running the FBI. Got fear? Decius:
(Honestly, I get the feeling that this is actually the other way around. Lucent can't be allowed to go out of business. This is fiscal policy at work. Nortel can probably be safely considered Canada's responsibility.) It's Lucent to the Rescue at the FBI |
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| Topic: Current Events |
6:06 pm EDT, May 26, 2002 |
Maybe it is a way to tame a fearsome subject by Hollywoodizing it, or maybe it is a way to drive home the dreadful stakes in the arid-sounding business of nonproliferation, but in several weeks of talking to specialists here and in Russia about the threats an amateur evildoer might pose to the homeland, I found an unnerving abundance of such morbid creativity. This is a long article, and there is little you can do, but it you are curious... Nuclear Nightmares |
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Military Bids to Postpone Iraq Invasion (washingtonpost.com) |
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| Topic: Current Events |
3:44 pm EDT, May 24, 2002 |
The uniformed leaders of the U.S. military believe they have persuaded the Pentagon's civilian leadership to put off an invasion of Iraq until next year at the earliest and perhaps not to do it at all, according to senior Pentagon officials. Tommy Franks told the president that invading Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein would require at least 200,000 troops ... The administration is focusing more on undermining Hussein through covert intelligence operations ... The Pentagon debate is only part of a larger discussion of Iraq that also involves the White House, the State Department and the CIA, among others. One top general said the "Iraq hysteria" he detected last winter in some senior Bush administration officials has been diffused. ... There is no evidence that there is a clear successor who is any better, and that there are significant risks that Iraq may wind up with a more hostile, activist regime. Military Bids to Postpone Iraq Invasion (washingtonpost.com) |
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washingtonpost.com: Spying at Home |
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| Topic: Current Events |
10:13 am EDT, May 21, 2002 |
"We must learn from those errors and get it right this time. We need a domestic intelligence capability. Every major power in the world has one, most with too much power. Britain's M.I.5 and France's Renseignements Generaux can open mail and tap phones at will. (Many in Washington believe that one reason so many terrorists operated out of Germany is that -- fearful of creating another Gestapo -- it has a weak internal security agency.) In an age of terrorism, when the enemy will often be operating inside America, we can't remain blindfolded." Its only a matter of time before a cure like this becomes worse then the disease. The FBI does not have to wait for a crime to occur inorder to investigate. They DO have to have reason to suspect that crime may occur. What this article asks for is a organization that can spy on you just because they don't like your politics. The reason this isn't done has nothing to do with the way the FBI works. The reason this isn't done is because its not constitutional. If everyone else is jumping off of a cliff are you going to do it too? washingtonpost.com: Spying at Home |
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New bin Laden film vows revenge |
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| Topic: Current Events |
2:18 pm EDT, May 19, 2002 |
An encrypted video containing previously unseen footage of Osama bin Laden singling out Britain as a terrorist target has been obtained by The Sunday Times. The film includes an interview recorded after the start of the West's offensive in Afghanistan. Those who provided the video to the newsnpaper claim it was made in March, indicating that bin Laden is still alive and plotting against the US, UK, and others. (Free registration required; login: cypherpunks, password: cypherpunks) New bin Laden film vows revenge |
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U.S. Intercepting Messages Hinting at a New Attack |
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| Topic: Current Events |
2:17 pm EDT, May 19, 2002 |
American intelligence agencies have intercepted a vague yet troubling series of communications among Al Qaeda operatives over the last few months indicating that the terrorist organization is trying to carry out an operation as big as the September 11 attacks or bigger. CYA. No one wants to appear caught off-guard, so they leak "news" like this even though it enables little in the way of an actionable response. Much like "Intel cuts prices, increases clock rates", this is not news precisely because it is happening all the time. Why don't we stories like this: "The FBI has intercepted a vague yet troubling series of communications among mobsters indicating that the organization is trying to pull off a financial scam as big as Enron or bigger." What might be news? If we were listening and watching closely, but heard nothing at all. U.S. Intercepting Messages Hinting at a New Attack |
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| Topic: Current Events |
9:15 pm EDT, Oct 13, 2001 |
"[...] the Edge community can mount a serious conversation about the catastrophic events of the past week that might do some good. " Respondents include Kevin Kelly, Esther Dyson, Freeman Dyson, Richard Dawkins, David Farber, Jaron Lanier, Douglas Rushkoff, Bruce Sterling, and many others. This is a very good collection of different views from across the political spectrum. In general, edge.org is a fairly good source for "what the technocracy thinks." Edge 89 |
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